Three people killed after shooting in Sweden

Three people have been killed after a shooting in Sweden.

A murder investigation has been launched following the incident in the city of Uppsala.

Witnesses told local media they heard five shots and saw people in the area running to take cover.

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Police said it was investigating the shooting as a homicide and that it had no information about whether it was a terror or hate crime-related incident at this point.

A spokesperson for the force said it had information someone had left the scene on an electric scooter – it was unclear whether they were a suspect, witness or otherwise.

Electric scooters have been used several times as a mode of transport after gang shootings in the country.

Uppsala, a city around 70km (43 miles) north of the capital Stockholm, has seen a number of gang-related shootings in the past decade, but usually outside the city centre.

In a statement, Swedish justice minister Gunnar Strommer said: “A brutal act of violence has occurred in central Uppsala… this is at the same time as the whole of Uppsala has begun Walpurgis Night.

“What has happened is extremely serious.”

The shooting took place on the eve of the Walpurgis spring festival in the city.

Local media reported that the attack took place near or in a hairdresser’s.

In February, 10 people were killed in the city of Orebro in the country’s deadliest ever mass shooting after a 35-year-old opened fire in an adult learning centre.

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Sweden’s right-wing government came to power in 2022, promising to tackle gang-related violence.

It has tightened laws and given more powers to police and after the Orebro shooting it vowed to tighten gun laws as well.